Former Saatchi & Saatchi chairman V Shantakumar joins Pitchfork Partners

Former Saatchi & Saatchi India, chairman, V Shantakumar has joined Pitchfork Partners Strategic Consulting (the firm describes itself as a new age strategy consultancy) as a senior strategist and board member.

Shantakumar will work closely with co-founders Sunil Gautam and Jaideep Shergill, and the team at Pitchfork Partners, to support its growth and diversification plans. Shantakumar has been involved with Pitchfork Partners for more than two years as a consulting partner on several assignments.

He has more than four decades of experience in marketing and advertising. He retired as chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi India in 2008, and was an advisor to the worldwide Saatchi & Saatchi Network through to 2010. That year, he founded an independent strategy advisory service called Doing Think focused on helping create sustainable business advantage using a proprietary process called Context Engineering.

Gautam and Shergill, say in a press release, "We are excited to have Shanta join us. His credentials are impeccable and Shanta's ability for creative thinking and strategy are par excellence.With his guidance and support, Pitchfork Partners will take the next leap towards redefining the communications landscape of India."

Shantakumar adds, "I am thrilled to be an integral member of the Pitchfork team. Although I have been involved over the past two years, the relationship today is more solid and allows me to contribute to my fullest. Sunil and Jaideep are great friends, and I am really excited to work with them to realise the Pitchfork dream."